Detox - Day 6

I feel like crap. Apart from my skin having a lovely glow to it, and the clearing up of some blemishes etc, I still have not seen any benefit of this program whatsoever.

I spent a day out with a wonderful friend yesterday, shopping, chatting and catching up, but by 4pm I was absolutely knackered. Sure, I'd been walking around all day, but I'd made sure I ate enough of the good stuff to keep me going: Porridge for breakfast + water + vegie juice, apple for a snack, fruit tea, steamed vegies, roast vegies and grilled fish for lunch, and some mixed nuts to get me through the afternoon. But I had a headache from lunch time and felt exhausted from about 4pm - not me at all! My lovely boy bought be a fancy new vegetarian cookbook as a surprise when I got home (he's been really supportive!), but unfortunately, every recipe had at least 2 detox-unfriendly items so I gave up and had egg and tofu.

Too much protein. I did add half a carrot and half a zucchini but I'm willing to consider that I have not been eating enough vegetables at dinner time - I simply haven't had any energy left to cook at night. I really think I should have researched this more before I started, and even learnt to cook a bit better.

I guess the fact that I haven't had alcohol, caffeine, diet softdrink or dairy for 7 days might have been good for me, but I'm not sure the supplements are of any benefit. Except, um... the colon care, which did some nifty work on my lower intestine, if you get my drift.

So what to do.
I don't want to be lacking energy next week - it's a massive week at work and I need to be running on all 4 cylinders. But I've spent $60 on this product and I feel I owe it to myself to stick at it. There is a 'helpline' but it's only open office hours and I don't want to surrender my paid time to talk to them. (I get paid by the hour).

A dilemma.

In other news, I've kept the am walking up each day this week, and am going to try and keep at it. Walking pm is out as it is too dark and I live too close to redfern to risk it.

Well mum and dad are on their way here so I'd better get moving. Mum is down for a photography trade show, and dad is driving my car back to their place in the blue mountains to sell it (noone wants a 2000 model Hyundai Excel do they?)

Hope you have all had wonderful weekends!

Detox - Days 3,4 & 5

Hanging in there! It's been a really busy few days, which I'm actually a little bit grateful for - there has been no time to think about chocolate or coffee or beer or wine... Ok, I'm lying, it has been busy but I've still found the time to think about all the food I'm missing.

Mum is also on day 5 of the detox program and we have been emailing each other swapping symptoms - headaches, general tiredness and lack of energy. The headaches come on about 12:30 and last most of the afternoon. Most of the reading I've done about these detox 'kits' do mention that this is to be expected, but I hope I start feeling better soon.

On the upside, my skin is clearing up and things do seem to be 'healing' substantially faster than normal which is good timing - I had a mole removed from my arm last week and the wound closed up nicely according to the nurse who removed the stitches this morning.

Foodwise, I haven't strayed from the foods in the 'allowed' category, I've found some rice-flour pasta which is really yummy, even the boy ate it. Tonight we went to the pub for dinner which I knew would be a real challenge, but I asked the cook to modify the salmon dish to having no sauces and lots of steamed vegies - perfect except that the mashed potato was particularly yummy and I suspect it was laden with butter, salt and full cream. I didn't eat that much of it though. I found myself full really quickly tonight, and the salmon tasted a bit greasy. I wonder if my body is already adjusting to the new routines and is sensitive to tasty food?

On the exercise front, walking is going well, I'm getting in at least half an hour to an hour a day. I really should investigate the gym one of these days, all the equipment at the fitness expo was pretty cool, some of it even looked fun!

I'll wrap this up now as I really just want to fall asleep on the couch! I am shopping with a girlfriend in the city tomorrow (meeting her for a herbal tea at 10:30!) and I am going to try and squeeze in a walk before I go. Mum is in town on Sunday, we are going to a photography trade show. Might have to take a packed lunch!

Detox - Day 2

Ok, before I get into this I just want to say a massive congratulations to Philippa, who I just dropped in on to catch up with some much missed blog reading. Fantastic news!

Now, back to detox. I woke up this morning feeling less than motivated. I went to bed hungry last night and I didn't really have any confidence that this detox was going to do me any good. My planned one hour walk lasted only 25 mins because of the rain - a poor (hehe, pour even) excuse, but I didn't want to get sick again.

Here's what I ate today:

Breakfast: warm water and lemon, an orange (1), a small glass of vegie juice (1.5) + basil and zucchini baby panlettes (mini omelet) (3) with a little goats cheese fetta (2)

Lunch: Carrot, tomato, cucumber, snowpeas, tuna (1.5), hommous (1) small choc milk( 1.5) miso soup (.5)

Dinner: Salmon: (3.5), carrot, asparagus, potato, beans, corn and a mouth full of brown rice (.5) a small glass of vegie juice (1.5) small choc milk( 1.5) sourdough bread (3)

So points wise, the total is 21.5. Not so bad I guess. I'm struggling to cut down the juice and choc soy as I am using it to mask the horrid taste of the supplements.

Tomorrow is going to be interesting. Now that I've found some bread (wheat free, gluten free, yeast free...) I'm looking forward to have some simple lunches for work. And toast for breakfast! It's all very well to have time at home to prepare vegies etc, but when I'm working full time (which I am at the moment) I don't have much time to spend in the morning making omelets and what not.

As for how I'm feeling as a result of the diet change - well, not much different. I need to wee a lot but there hasn't been much change on the erm, digestion front. I guess my body is still adjusting to the new rules.

Anyway, better get back to the invoicing - a bit of a chore right now, but it's nice being able to do it on my shiny new machine.

Ciao.

Detox - Day 1

Hi folks,
I've certainly been keeping a low profile lately. Not deliberately holding back from you guys, but simply letting life go by without blogging for a bit (imagine that!!). I've missed it, and admit that the will to maintain healthy habits has practically flown out the window. My motivation has been down, my weight has gone up and my body is paying for it, the aches and pains, bad skin and lack of energy are all testimony to this.

After hanging out with M & Mary at the fitness expo last weekend, I have been inspired to get back on the wagon. Last week I celebrated 2 anniversaries - 3 years with my boyfriend, and 4 years since I first walked into weight watchers weighing 96kgs. I've been trying to think of a way to get the 'instant hit' of enthusiasm that spurred me on in the first place. It's not like I've piled it all back on - only 5 or so kg are currently giving me grief - but I can't seem to find the spark again.

As a result, I've turned to Blackmores 10 day Detox. I suspect that the novelty, combined with the short term commitment and the fact that I paid about 60 bucks for a box of pills, might just trick my head into believing that I can actually do this.

For those of you unfamiliar with this kind of supplemented detox program, there are a few rules:

AVOID:

• Alcohol, caffeine, soft drink, sugary drinks etc
• Refined carbs: sugar, honey, chocolates and any wheat products
• Red meat
• Dairy
• Refined grains: all yeast based bread, pasta, noodles, cakes
• Artificial sweeteners, preservatives, additives, bla bla bla
  

INCREASE:

• All fruit and vegetables (except dried fruit & grapefruit)
  
• Tofu, legumes, raw nuts, raw seeds
• Water intake
  
• Fish & Chicken

In addition to the food changes, there is also some supplements in the box to aid in the cleansing process of the different bits of the body:

• Stomach - Digestive bitters (ewk! I don't think I'm going to be able to take the correct dose - this tastes sooooo bad!)
• Liver - Milk Thistle
  
• Intestines - Acidophilus Bifidus
• Colon - Herbal colon care (read: laxative)
• Skin - Exfoliating glove.

After mentally preparing my self for the 'ride', I took my self off to Harris Farm to get the food I need. I came home with an entire trolley full of fresh fruit and vegetables, half a dozen cans of different kind of beans, and a few soy based dairy substitutes. I also managed to find a couple of the wheat bread substitute suggestions (Rye bread etc) and some brown rice.

So. Day 1.
It's about 10pm now and I'm quite hungry. This detox thing is already starting to effect by body, lots of gurgling going down below (yup!). I'm struggling to find any quick and easy meal ideas. Today was a disaster - I'm not even sure if I can count it as my official start day as things went a bit haywire on the dinner front.

Here's what I ate today:

Breakfast
Warm water with lemon, vegie juice*, 1 x free range egg - soft boiled, 6 cherry tomatoes, 1/2 glass of choc soy milk*, 1/2 piece of pumpernickle (rye - bloody awful!)

Lunch
Rough salad of 1 carrot, 8 cherry tomatoes, snow peas and cucumber, 1 boiled egg, 2 tbls hommous (preservative free)

Dinner - Disaster!
Attempted tofu and vegie stir fry with ginger, garlic, sesame oil, soy sauce, beans, snow peas, bok choy, challots & mushrooms. The tofu turned to mushu. It was gross - I chucked it out.

Snacks
Vege chips* (packaged, from healthfood store), soy yoghurt* another vegie juice* & choc soy milk*, apple and a pear.

* These items aren't part of the plan - they have added sugar and are fairly well processed, but I didn't plan things well enough. I'm going to try and go without the choc soy drink tomorrow. The vegie chips also contain a bit of sugar and some kind of flour. I have to do some research of what snack foods are substantial without jeopardising the whole detox.

Tonight before I go to bed I have to take the colon care herbs - I'm glad it's a public holiday so that I can, erm, monitor the effects in a friendly environment!

incidentally, I decided to increase the opportunity to lose a bit of weight by starting my morning walking again. I dragged myself out of bed at 6 am and plodded around the park. Not much fun - I'm so unfit!.

Tomorrow is going to be interesting. I've decided that the blackmores calorie controlled diet is too hard to do when I'm working. So I'll try and devise myself an eating plan based on the ww point system, whilst restricting my food choices to items from the "allowed" food list. At least that way I know I'm getting 'enough' food, even if the nutrition is a little less balanced. I'm thinking that I may also cheat a little and introduce a tiny bit of dairy and pasta. This may not be ideal, but at least I won't be starving if my meals are disasters every night.

I'd love to hear from anyone who has ever tried detox and might have some satisfying detox-friendly recipes!

On that note, I'm going to bed. I've lovingly typed this post on my new computer but I have a big day tomorrow (nerding it up!) and need to sleep before I get hungry again.

Night!